Fallout
by Stephensmat
Summary: The effects of nuclear war go way beyond the first blast and fallout. The duration is a lot longer than the war. DaleSkylar.


Okay, this one's going to be a little different. Most of the fics I put up here are drabbles. They cover an hour or a day of time. They're all timeline-neutral; they don't fit into specific episodes outside the obvious.

This one's going a little bigger, but unless it refers to something in my other stories, or in the series directly, don't waste any time trying to figure out what this means long term or where it fits into the show.

If I put any stories up in the future, they likely wont refer to this one much either.

* * *

ONE WEEK AFTER THE BOMBS

Skylar came into Gracie's store, moved down the shelves. "Heard the latest?" She asked Dale.

"What's that?"

"Lucy's family garden got ransacked last night."

"Her garden?"

"She was growing carrots."

"Ah."

"She told me that they weren't ready yet, but they got taken anyway."

Dale said nothing, sweeping the aisles.

"What were they thinking?"

"They weren't." Dale said. "Nobody's thinking, they're reacting. Bonnie told me that the lady staying with them put her hand down on the staircase railing, got a bit of dust on it after the rain, she's still convinced she's going to die."

Skylar chuckled. "Heard a line in a TV show once. 'If you can keep your head while all those about you are losing theirs, you probably haven't checked with your answering service.'"

Dale chuckled, and Gracie came out from the back of the store. "Dale? Could you…oh hello Skylar."

"Gracie."

"Can I help you?"

"Just talking to Dale."

"I see. Well, if you aren't here to trade, then I'll have to ask you to let my employee work. Dale's shift ends at four, and in the meantime, there's work to do."

Skylar looked around the empty store. "Yeah."

And she headed out.

Dale glanced at Gracie. "You don't have to be mean to her you know."

"She was mean to you." Gracie reminded him. "Acting like she was above you."

"I know." Dale said. "But thing is, I'm alive. She's alive. So are you. That's all that's left. There's no one unequal now."

"Does she realize that?"

"She will." Dale said plainly. "If she doesn't, she'll get eaten alive pretty quick." Dale headed into the back of the shop to put the broom away, and noticed the flowers in the planter on her windowsill.

The petals were wilting. They were covered in a film of black dust.

He picked up the broom handle, dipped it into the soil on the planter. The soil had the dust in it too."Oh no." Dale whispered.

EIGHT WEEKS AFTER THE BOMBS

"Remind me why we're here again?" Skylar asked as they skidded their bikes to a stop.

"Scrounging." Dale commented, leading the way on foot into the mass of abandoned and useless vehicles in the used car lot, miles outside Jericho.

"These cars are already drained dry Dale, oil, gas, batteries, parts, tires, wiper fluid even. Everything in them was taken months ago. There's nothing here to get!" Skylar complained.

"Got your work gloves?"

"This is the third time we've done this since you've moved in. It's the fifth time I've gone with you since the bombs fell. You know that sooner or later you're gonna have to give me an answer right?" Skylar demanded.

"Bring the flashlight."

Skylar pulled on her gloves and followed him. "Listen, if you want new stuff, you don't have to rig anything up, we can get it from town. I've gotten pretty good at bartering, and then there's the new guy with his truck full of stuff in the park."

"I gave you some stuff to trade."

"And wasn't Gracie so thrilled about that." Skylar responded without thinking, wincing as soon as she had. Gracie's death was still a raw nerve for Dale. She quickly kept the conversation moving. "There was some stuff there that you'd like. You've only got the one outfit. He's only in town till tomorrow morning."

"Skylar, the world ended, the sky burned, the lights went out, but don't think for a second that means that I'm going shopping with you." He pointed at the car. "This one first."

Skylar climbed up onto the hood of the nearest rusted car, and held up the torch. Dale had pulled a heavy cutting knife, and started slicing at the seals around the windshield. Several minutes' work, and Dale brought it out in one complete piece.

"Find another one." He told her, and she started looking for more cars with complete windshields, while Dale strapped it onto the back of his bike, balancing it carefully.

"And that's another thing!" Skylar added. "Why are we doing this in the middle of the night, using batteries, risking our necks on the open road?"

"Three more, then we've gotta move." Dale said. "We've got to get back by dawn and this thing makes too much wind-resistance to risk pedalling fast."

"Because you were right about the empty coffee cans, and because you look so cute by moonlight, and for no other reason, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt." Skylar told him. "But at some point I want an answer."

Dale blushed at the compliment, and Skylar had a satisfied smirk at flustering him.

Long silence while they worked. "Okay fine." Dale confessed. "But keep it quiet huh?"

"Okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Tell anyone and I'll tell Heather what you keep in the back of your sock drawer."

She looked stunned at him "How do you know what I keep in the back of my sock drawer?"

"Because when you found out the washing machines wouldn't work anymore, you got me to take washing duty."

She turned bright red. "Oh."

"Don't worry, I wont tell. Besides… it's… cute."

Skylar took a swing at him with the flashlight.

Dale chuckled. "Anyway… Mayor Green came to see me a few weeks ago. He needed to make a trade with Gracie for something, but he found out she was doing deals with Jonah, so he came to me in confidence. He had a project, but he didn't want to worry anyone, in case it wasn't necessary."

"Tell me."

And he did.

When he was finished, Skylar thought it over. "Cool." She said. "But why car windows? Why not glass from the businesses or abandoned homes? For that matter, why not plastic?"

"The plastic sheeting's all been divided up and handed out to all the families to gather rainwater. Glass gets broken by vandals, but they're trying to stay fed now too, so they've settled. Glass works, but I don't want anybody to notice they're gone. Windshields are more or less the right shape, except for the curves, but it's easier to cut them out of the sealed frame than it is to actually cut the glass without breaking it."

"Then get a glass cutter."

Dale looked at her. "Wouldn't even know where to look."

"I do."

She stopped what e was doing and looked at her. "What?"

"You know Mr Rennie? He had a side business repairing birdhouses and such. One of the things he did was put those murals on the store windows around Christmastime, so he had to repair glass and broken windows now and then. I think he had a few panes of glass. Not that much, but I know he had glasscutters, because he fixed my window two years ago. I figure, since he's dead, and his house has been cleaned out, his workshop should still be okay, because who wants glasscutters?"

Dale was smiling at her. "That's incredibly helpful."

"Well, it's not entirely without price."

"I had a hunch."

"Strawberries."

"Right."

They made their way back toward town.

* * *

NINE WEEKS AFTER THE BOMBS

Mary was looking panicked; Gail and Mayor Johnston looked about twenty years older.

April stepped away from her Ex-husband's bed and pulled the three of them aside. "It looks like radiation poisoning."

* * *

"By now the count is up to twenty." Mayor Johnston announced at the town meeting. "Now, first a little rumour control. There is no fallout in the air. Mr. Hawkins was able to rig up a Geiger counter, the radiation has not returned. We've checked carefully, and we've proven that the new radioactive particles is coming from the new things traded by Mr. Olean a fortnight ago, when he passed through town on his way south. Either he didn't know his things were tainted, or he didn't care, but metal can absorb and hold radiation. My son bought a travel mug; he's been drinking from it for two days. Mrs. Creel's new pendant, Lucy Crane's new watch, they're all contaminated."

Dale, sitting on the aisle, leaned over. "Did you trade anything metal with that guy?"

Skylar shook her head, looking worried. "No. I traded a book on long-life recipes, but nothing that can hold radiation."

"Now as a general rule, I don't give orders about people's personal lives, but in this case, for your sakes, and the sake of people around you, I'm ordering that any goods which might be dangerous be handed in for checking. If it's clean, you can take it back, if it's not, then it's too dangerous to hold on to."

"How do we get rid of it?" Called Emily from the back row.

"Can't bury it without irradiating the ground." Jake thought out loud. "Can't melt it down, no fires hot enough anymore."

Heather rubbed her chin. "Can't lock it up without making our people sick."

"And can't trade it without making it someone else's problem." Mayor Johnston finished.

"So how do we get rid of it?" Mimi shouted.

Loud chaotic rumblings from the townsfolk. Mayor Green tried to get people to settle down and be calm, and went unheeded. Skylar noticed through the window that Dale was heading back to the store.

* * *

She tracked him down that night in the back room of the Store. "Hey."

He jumped and dropped the knife he was using. "Ack!"

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle."

"You didn't." Dale covered. "I wasn't expecting you is all."

"Are you still working on that?"

"The more of these things we have the better." Dale told her.

"Let's go home."

"I'm busy."

"You're wasting candles."

"They've only been on for an hour."

"It's been dark for five hours."

Dale looked at her and then out the window. "What time is it?"

"Late. Or early depending on your point of view."

"Why are you still out then?"

"Because I came looking for you."

"Oh."

"Up. Up. Get up. UP!"

Dale stood and stretched. He picked up his knife, the canvas he was cutting, and the plastic tub in front of him.

"You are not bringing that." Skylar told him. "You are leaving it here, you are coming back with me, you are eating something, and you are sleeping."

"Okay, okay."

He locked up the store and they started walking.

"It could have waited till morning you know."

"Time's coming we're going to need them all." Dale told her. "He came to me with this."

"He came to you because he needed the dirt, and he knew Gracie wouldn't give it to him."

"Well that problem sort of solved itself didn't it?" He muttered bitterly.

"Hey."

"Sorry." He sped up a little to be a few feet in front of Skylar when they got to the intersection, glanced both ways. Nobody in sight, he fell back into step next to her. "It's not safe to be out this late, why aren't you asleep?"

"Couldn't sleep. Got up to get a drink and found you hadn't come back yet." She gave him a disgusted look. "I swear; you wouldn't come inside during a hurricane unless someone told you to."

They walked in silence for a while. "What was the final answer to the radioactive junk?"

"They don't have one." Skylar admitted. "Best bet they could come up with was to collect it and hide it somewhere far from people."

They made it back and Skylar unlocked the door. Dale went into the living room and pulled up the shade over the desk, letting the moonlight in. "By the way, do you have any empty notebooks around? Mine's full up."

"Not surprising, you've summarized every book in the house, plus in the library."

"Not all of them. Heather's holding another five or so. There's a waiting list."

Skylar had gone into the kitchen to hang up their coats. "There should be a notebook on the bottom shelf on the bookcase." She called back. "Mom hated open spaces between the books."

When she had come back in, Dale was looking over a new book. The girl nearly fell over when she realized what it was.

A photo album.

She moved fast and yanked it out of his hands. "Uh-uh."

Dale looked incredibly embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't…that is… I shouldn't have…" He gave up and looked down. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Just hadn't looked at it in a while." She sat down. "You should sleep."

"So should you."

"But if you go first, then I at least know you're using one of the guest rooms and wont sleep sitting up again." Skylar said plainly.

Dale scowled at her and left the room. "Honestly, with you around it's like I never lost mom at all."

Skylar felt a pang of guilt about that, but didn't say anything. She opened the photo album and started flicking through the pages. She hadn't looked at family pictures since before the attack. When Dale had moved in, he'd noticed that the family pictures on the shelves and the refrigerator had been taken down.

She flipped through a few more pages, letting the memories wash over her.

Jumping to her feet, she was suddenly grinning. "That's IT!"

She went rushing into the bedroom. He wasn't there. She searched the house, and found him in the sunroom. A long room with big windows, facing east to catch the dawn. He was moving plastic tubs about, lining them up. "You were supposed to be sleeping!"

"So were you!" Dale shot back.

"I figured it out!"

"Figured what out? Where we're gonna put the rest of them?"

"No. What to do with the radioactive knick-knacks."

* * *

"Why are we here?" Jake asked Stanley quietly.

Skylar was leading them through the town cemetery very early the next morning. Dale was a step behind her, with Jake and Stanley further back. All three men were carrying shovels.

"Jake, I've lived with my mom growing up, raising my little sister the rest of my life, and breaking up catfights between her and Uncle Sam for the last two months. Let me tell you what I have learned. There's no point demanding explanations when the lady's running the show."

"We're here." Skylar held a hand up. She was standing on a grave.

"Evelyn Stevens." Dale read the name off the headstone. "Your grandmother?"

"Yep." She planted her shovel in the dirt in front of her headstone and stepped it down into the earth. "Start digging."

Stanley and Jake gave each other a freaked out look. Skylar levelled a glare at them. "What? Scared?"

The two came forward, joined in.

Five feet deep, the two youngest stepped back as Jake and Stanley lowered themselves into the grave, too tight a hole for all of them to dig.

Skylar was quiet.

"You don't talk about her." Dale observed.

"No."

"Too painful to think about your family?"

"Well yes, but that's not why I don't talk about Grandma. She was a dreadful old harpy and made everybody around her miserable."

Dale blinked uncomfortably; then checked the head of the grave. "I don't see that carved on the headstone."

Skylar laughed.

Stanley sank his shovel in again, and was rewarded with a thump. "Got it."

The three of them brushed away the remaining dirt, revealing the casket.

Skylar stepped forward and jumped lightly down onto the coffin. "Open it."

"Uh…"

"Men." Skylar commented dryly, making a light clucking noise. She levered the lid up herself and, stepped back at the smell. All four looked through half-closed eyes at the skeleton in the casket.

"What's that in her hand?" Dale asked from the ground level.

Jake reached in and pried the small oilskin packet out from between the skeletal bone fingers.

"I'll take that." Skylar took it off him and opened it. Inside was a fantastic pocket old pocket watch, protected from the years by the expensive coffin and the oilskin wrapping. She handed it up to Dale and took his hand to get out of the hole. "It belonged to Grandpa. He said that it was an heirloom, and it had to stay in the family no matter what. He left it to my mom when he died, but Grammy hated her new daughter-in-law so much that she got it back by having herself buried with it." She smirked at Dale. "Having the last word is real important in my family."

"Yes. I've noticed that." Dale said dryly, and she elbowed him.

Jake looked at the inside of the lid and grinned suddenly. "It's lead lined!"

Skylar smiled impishly at Dale. "Grammy was rich and paranoid, and didn't want anyone knowing where she hid her stuff. Not even Superman."

Stanley and Jake cackled and gently started lifting the bones out of the coffin

"No, dump the radioactive junk in with her. It'll keep her warm." Skylar said easily.

"Skylar." Dale growled.

She was surprised at the vehemence. "What?"

Dale glanced at the Greens' who were putting the offending material into the coffin, then pulled Skylar closer to speak quietly in her ear. "She's dead, but at least she got a funeral and burial. A lot of our mother's weren't granted that luxury, so dial it down a notch will ya?"

Skylar swallowed. Dale was still having nightmares about his mom. She gave his hand a squeeze. "Sorry Dale, I didn't even think."

Dale nodded. "It's okay."

"The lead in the coffin will kill the radiation, and burying it will keep anyone else from finding it." Jake grinned at Skylar. "Good job pretty lady."

Skylar blushed at his 'aw-shucks-I'm-a-farm-boy-rebel-without-a-cause' look. "Thanks Jake."

Stanley made kiss-y sounds at the two of them, and Skylar looked embarrassed, while they sealed the coffin and started filling in the hole.

Scene Break

The next day, Mary Bailey came into the store. "Skylar?"

"Hey. How's Eric?"

"It was a mild dose. Iodine was enough to save most of them. Mrs. Creel didn't make it."

Skylar sighed.

"In any case," Mary said. 'You saved Eric's life, and I'm very grateful. If there's anything I can do…"

"There is." Dale said from behind the counter, and both women turned to face him.

"Thought there might be." Mary noted.

"I want your roof." Dale said.

"Ex-cuse me?" Mary demanded in shock.

"The bar has a flat rooftop, I have a ladder than can reach it. I want your roof. You won't even know I'm there."

"What for?"

"Storage. Things that aren't really important, things that are waterproof but aren't really useful, but they have some sentimental value. If I keep them here or at Skylar's house-"

"Our house." Skylar put in doggedly.

"-Then they'll be taking up space, plus they might get stolen. They're no use right now, so I'd rather just keep them out of the way…"

"Well…okay. Huh. Thought I'd have to get rid of something I used." She shook his hand and made her goodbyes.

Once she was gone, Skylar whirled on him. "Why?!"

"You said you like a place with a view." Dale said.

"Yeah, but that's not why."

Dale smiled secretively, checked to see if anyone was listening. "I thought you might like to get your sunroom back. Last few weeks you've been trying to wedge yourself between the apricots and the blueberries to warm up in the morning."

Skylar grinned in understanding. "Dale…you…"

"You've been really good about it, and you were right. This way we don't have to worry about them getting stolen, but there's too many of them now, and they've got to go outside sooner or later."

Skylar gave him a dazzling grin.

"The only real question is what do we tell Mary when she asks?"

She held up her hands. "Because you were right about the candles, and those jeans are getting small enough to be interesting, I'll run interference for you with Mary."

Dale blushed at the compliment, and Skylar had a satisfied smirk at flustering him.

6 MONTHS AFTER THE BOMBS

Skylar came into the store. "I come bearing spoils. Some socks that need sewing, a couple of shirts that'll fit you, few bits of long underwear for me... better wash them first."

"Okay. Wash day tomorrow or the day after?"

"Day after, but with these we've almost got too much for hand scrubbing bucket. I start now they'll dry by tonight."

"I can do it."

She swatted him away. "You've got deliveries to take and things to build." She picked up the basket. "Speaking of that, Mary caught me going up to her roof. She's asking questions."

"Almost got the last of them."

"Good because if we go looking for any more glass we're going to have to start telling people why."

Dale cleared his throat. "And speaking of that."

"Yes?"

Dale reached under the counter, pulled out a small jar of mustard. "A thank you. For your help with that little project."

Skylar stared at the jar like she was missing something. "Mustard. You're trying to repay me with mustard."

"Open it."

Skylar did so. The jar had been scrubbed out, and three large strawberries were contained within. Skylar let out an 'ooooh' and gave Dale a look that made him gulp. "You remembered." She almost purred.

"Enjoy."

Skylar glanced over her shoulder, and picked one up, shut her eyes, and took a bite.

Dale was somewhat transfixed. It was not an unsensual sight.

Skylar licked her lips happily and saw him staring. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, I just had a flashback to the 'herbal essences' commercials."

Skylar smiled. "Should I eat the rest here?"

"Yes please." Dale's voice cracked. "I mean, if you like."

Skylar gave a satisfied smirk and picked up the basket. "Tonight. After I'm done with the wash."

"Is the thing with Mary going to cause trouble?"

"I can handle her."

"Um. How exactly?"

"I have some photographs she'd like to keep hidden."

"New addition to the back of your sock drawer?"

"Why do you think I'm doing my own laundry now?" She reached over the counter and collected her jacket. "I'm not going without a full load." There wasn't a working washing machine in the state, but it was an ongoing joke. "Have you got any other whites?"

"Yeah, but you aren't getting them." He shot back, putting the mustard jar safely under the counter.

Skylar burst out laughing at that.

Dale smiled back, and then looked over her shoulder at the door. "Hey Mimi." He said, as she carried two crates, balanced on top of each other, into the Market.

"Dale, I give you your cut of corn from the newest harvest."

"Excellent. I've missed corn on the cob." Dale put in.

"My dad made it every July 4th." Skylar said, pulling out one of the stalks. "Uh…Mimi, I know that you and I aren't farm girls exactly, but this doesn't look right."

Dale came over, checked the corncobs. They did indeed look warped and mutated.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Mimi, Dale and Skylar were meeting with Mayor Green. Jake had gone to get Stanley from the farm.

"I don't get it, I thought the fallout was gone now." Mimi said.

"Radioactive material has a half-life of centuries. The dust particles were cleaned out of the air after the rain, but it was washed down into the soil." Mayor Johnston ran the makeshift Geiger counter over it and checked the reading. "God help us."

"It's hot?" Skylar asked in fear.

"Only if you eat it." The Mayor promised. "But the farms outside Jericho supply most of our food."

"It's happening with the livestock too." Mimi put in. " Jason's farm, over on the other side of town, his cows are getting sick Stanley thought they were getting a virus or something. They're eating bad grass. I thought…hoped, the crops would have gotten a low enough does to be harmless…Everybody's living hand to mouth…"

Stanley came in. "What's this Jake tells me about my crops being contaminated? Bonnie, Mimi and me have been eating it for weeks, without so much as a headache."

"Well maybe, but this corn's still bad." Dale told him.

Stanley blinked. He looked at the corn, looked at Mimi. "What?" He seemed confused. "We're growing wheat only."

"Not corn too?"

Stanley looked at Mimi. "What happened to the wheat from the farm? The stuff that was supposed to go to Dale?"

Mimi looked down. "I traded some of it to Jason for the corn."

Stanley looked confused. "Wheat's for a higher rate than corn." He glanced at Dale. "Right?

"Right."

The Mayor turned back to Mimi. "So what else did you get?"

Now everybody was looking at her.

Mimi sighed and looked Mayor Johnston directly in the eye. "All right, I traded it to him for half his wife's supply of Birth Control pills. Any questions?"

Beat. Dale glanced at Stanley who found something fascinating to look at out the window. Jake was biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

"So this stuff came from Jason's farm?" Johnston asked; just to clarify.

Pause.

"Mimi, take the truck and get to Jason's farm right now, make sure he hasn't eaten any of this stuff!" Stanley said urgently.

Mimi nodded and rushed out.

Jake glanced at Skylar, decided he couldn't help himself and leaned over to whisper something in Stanley's ear, which earned him a punch on the shoulder.

"So if the fallout's in the soil now, why isn't our farm glowing?" Stanley asked.

"Western edge of town." Mayor Johnston said. "The fallout had to get through all the rain that fell on the town and still make it to your farm. There was more rain than dust that day."

"Guess you lucked out twice." Jake put in. "First you could be in the rain without getting sick, now we know the air had been cleaned enough to keep your farm safe too."

"But that still leaves more than half our food supply tainted." Mayor Johnston said darkly. "What do we do about that?"

"Can we trade enough from other towns?"

"Not in the amounts we need, plus there's no proof that they'd have enough to go around." Jake shook his head.

Long silence.

"We're screwed aren't we?" Stanley asked quietly.

Mayor Green sent Dale a look. "Dale, tell me honestly, did you even remember to build those greenhouses?"

Dale gave Skylar a nod in turn.

She cleared her throat with great ceremony. "Gentlemen, the house of Stevens and Turner are proud to present a solution to your mutual problem! If you'll kindly follow us?"

* * *

There, on the roof of the Mary's Bar, were ten small greenhouses, made from glass and plastic tubs filled with dirt. Each tub had plants growing in them, with small fruits growing on their branches.

On a few of them, windshields were used for the long sides, side windows for the ends. Others had regular glass cut to fit, with thick tape over the edges to prevent cuts. Masking tape filled in the corners. Planters full of dirt and compost made the base, and each was topped by fabric, swiped from the convertible cars, and taped down on three sides by masking tape.

For a moment, Jake and Stanley stared in thrilled disbelief. "Where did they come from?"

"After we came out of hiding when the fallout rain fell," The Mayor explained. "I saw the dust was washed onto the ground and wondered if the radiation might hurt our next crop, in case the dirt was irradiated. So I went to Dale and asked him if he could, in his spare time, find a place we could grow privately, using something like this." He sent the boy a proud look. "I didn't know he'd made more than these though."

Dale demonstrated by lifting the un-taped end of the canvas roof, releasing the tape, and watering the plants inside the nearest one, while Skylar explained.

"We cut the glass in complete pieces, because to make a greenhouse, you need to let the light in, but cover every side so that the warmth doesn't get out again. The windshields fit into the recycling tubs easily enough, and we found unused windows on shut down businesses and such when we had the tools to cut with. Masking take was strong enough to keep the sides up once we packed them full of dirt. We've got enough for one per family." Skylar said. "Dale's been working overnight on them, I helped on weekends, covered a few days at the store."

"We've got ten here, more at Skylar's house-"

"Our house." She corrected him pointedly.

"More at the Store, some scattered around the cemetery, the used car lots, where the trailer park used to be. Out of the way places that nobody goes to any more." Dale finished.

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Jake demanded of his father.

"Because if everyone knew they were here, some damn fool would try to steal it or smash it." Skylar told him, before Johnston could speak. "Those first two months were panicked; everybody was going at each other like wolves." She shrugged.

"Plus we didn't know we'd need them." Johnston put in, glancing at Stanley. "Admit it, would you want us to announce that the farmland surrounding Jericho had a fifty-fifty shot of being radioactive for life?"

"Skylar here learned the fine art of making jams and preserves from the first fruit crops. And since the greenhouse kept the heat from daylight in, we didn't have to worry about the frost getting onto the plants as they grew, and we've got enough to go around for another eighteen weeks." Dale said. "Plus pits and seeds from the fruits themselves."

"What about the fallout?" Stanley asked.

"That's why he came to me and not you." Dale said. "These planters are filled with the enriched dirt that was in the 'Home and Garden' section of Gracie's store."

"One great thing about small town supermarkets, they've got a pretty wide selection." Skylar put in.

"The rest we can make up with compost from the fruits they grow and the other garbage." Dale finished.

Silence. Mayor Johnston was grinning at the two young ones. Jake and Stanley gave each other a smile, like proud parents.

"Aren't they great?" Stanley asked Jake.

"I love'em." Jake agreed, laughing.

"Take her, he's mine." Stanley said playfully.

Jake, sensing the game, stepped forward, caught Skylar's hand and dance-twirled her closer, giving her a sweet kiss.

Dale laughed, when he noticed Stanley moving in on him with a predatory grin and darted back to the opposite side of the nearest greenhouse in horror.

Mayor Green laughed loudly as his son's best friend chased Dale around the planter.

8 MONTHS AFTER THE BOMBS

Skylar snuck up behind Dale and covered his eyes. "Surprise."

Dale flinched, and then relaxed when he realized who it was. "Morning."

"You know what today is?"

"Um… Tuesday?"

"It's six months to the day since you moved in."

Dale twitched. "Really?"

Skylar smiled. "You forgot didn't you?"

Dale said nothing, digging for a solution, searching for an answer.

Skylar let him sweat for a second, and let him off the hook. "Oh relax, I forgot too. Mayor Green was going over the calendar, with Mr. Gray. He seems to think there's an election coming up."

"Takes more than the end of the world for Gray to forget that huh?"

Skylar chuckled, then put something on the table, wrapped in a clean dishcloth. "Sorry about the wrapper. Couldn't find any wrapping paper or ribbon"

"I didn't get you anything."

"I know. Open it."

Dale unwrapped it. It was her grandmother's pocket watch. It was ticking. "Still works?"

"Lucy's dad is getting real good at clockwork repair. Do you like it?"

"I thought your grandmother wanted it to stay in your family."

"Do you like it?" Skylar pressed him.

Dale ran a finger over the crystal glass. "It's beautiful."

Skylar took it off him, and slipped it into Dale's inside jacket pocket.

He looked at her in shock. She just winked at him.

Dale nodded. "Thank you." He licked his lips. 'But, since it's an heirloom, I'll just hold onto it till your parents get back."

"That's sweet of you to say…" Skylar took a breath and looked him in the face. "But Dale… they aren't coming."

Beat. Dale reached forward and gave her a tight hug.

Skylar was quietly stunned. The only time he had gotten within two feet of her was when she had hugged him. The first time when Gracie died, the second when he told her New York was still there, and the third when she had shot a robber, and he'd had to carry her home. Other than that, with the exception of a few exceptionally cold nights, when the choice was get close or die, Dale had fallen into the habit of staying at arms length.

But not today.

"You remember how we met?" Skylar whispered in his ear.

"Of course."

"You remember your first time here?"

"Always."

"Lot of fallout from that day."

Dale smiled at the pun. "Yeah."

"Happy anniversary."

#Authors note#

As I'm not an expert, you'll have to forgive any factual errors with regards to radiation and timing.

Speaking of timing, I know the election line was WAY out of sequence for canon, but I wanted an angle to make the date seem pointless and forgotten, but have the important dates remembered.


End file.
